State of Georgia Mandates Verification of Work Status

Another day, another state passing a law that requires employers to verifiy their employee's work eligibility status. (Okay, this actually took place on June 29th, but I've been busy blogging about other topics) This time, the State of Georgia has enacted Senate Bill 529 that mandates that all businesses the contract with the state and have 500 or more employees must confirm their employees legal right to work status with the Social Security Administration or Department of Homeland Security (DHS)for residents of other countries who are legally permitted to work in this country.

In addition to enforcing federal immigration laws, the state feels that this measure will discourage those doing business with the state from human traffiking and taking state deductions for undocumented workers.

What I find interesting about this measure is that they only require this of those that employ over 500 employees. Why? Do they trust that small employers wouldn't hire illegals and are they just starting somewhere? Also, this should be an interesting test case for the state. What if these contractors now cannot find enough legal workers to complete the jobs the state has contracted for? Do they rescind this measure? Do they look for out-of-state contractors? Can they require out-of-state contractors to do the same? Will they eventually mandate this for all employers in the state of Georgia?

Who knows? We'll keep following this story and update you from time to time.